Swansea team transforms face masks into Ethernet cables

The process converts the carbon found in the discarded masks to create high-quality single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT), which were then used to make Ethernet cable with broadband quality.

Published in Carbon Letters, the study outlines how this green chemistry could be used to upcycle materials which would otherwise be thrown away and transform them into high value materials with real-world applications.

According to the team, the CNTs produced by this technique have the potential not only to be used in Ethernet cables, but also in the production of lightweight batteries used in electric cars and drones.

Professor Alvin Orbaek White, of Swansea University’s Energy Safety Research Institute (ESRI), described single-use facemasks as a ‘real travesty for the recycling system’ due to the vast amounts of plastic waste created, much of which ends up in the ocean.

“During the study, we established that the carbon inside the facemask can be used as a pretty good feedstock to make high-quality materials like CNTs,” he said.